This invention relates generally to devices for preventing electrical meters from being tampered with. More particularly the invention relates to a sealing device for interconnecting an electrical meter and a junction box or meter socket such that unauthorized separation of the two can be readily detected.
Conventional electrical meters and various other kinds of meters are sealed in an enclosure from which readings can be taken without removal of any parts of the meters. The meters usually consist of a cylindrical-shaped glass enclosure which accommodates the inner mechanism and which has a radially outwardly extending base. The base is seated upon a rim or flange of a meter socket and the base and rim are interconnected by a seal. Prongs extend from beneath the base of the electrical meter and are adapted to fit into conforming female receptacles which are disposed on the meter socket.
The means for sealing the rim and the base of the electrical meter is conventionally in the form of a discontinuous ring having overlapping ends disposed one inside the other. The ring is positioned concentrically about the meter such that it straddles the base and the rim and prevents their being separated unless the ends of the ring are separate. To prevent unauthorized separation the end of the ring which is disposed inside the other end is provided with an ear which projects through a slot cut into the other end. A wire is passed through an aperture formed in the ear and the ends of the wire are interconnected by a metallic seal which is too large to pass through the slot. The metallic seal thus prevents the two ends of the seal from being separated.
A serious shortcoming of the metallic seal is that it does not secure the ends of the wire with sufficient tenacity. The ends usually can with effort be removed from the seal either by, for example, grasping the seal with a pair of pliers and forcing the seal and wires apart or by rotating the wires adjacent the seal to enlarge the opening in the seal through the ends of the wire pass so that the ends may be withdrawn from the seal. The metallic seal is thus not a reliable means of preventing unauthorized removal of the electrical meter from the meter base.